


whisper sweet nothings to me (i'll try to make sense of it)

by Tatsumaki_sama



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Bonding, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Love Letters, Pre-Time Skip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-10-14 04:04:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20594393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tatsumaki_sama/pseuds/Tatsumaki_sama
Summary: Byleth receives a love letter. Confused, she decides to consult others about it.





	whisper sweet nothings to me (i'll try to make sense of it)

**Author's Note:**

> For the sake of this story, I won't be mentioning what house Byleth joined. I just thought it would be fun to have Byleth casually interacting with the three lords. This will be less about who wrote the love letter (I didn't really have anyone in particular in mind) but more about the reactions and advice of the others.

It had been an otherwise uneventful morning until Byleth arrived to her classroom to discover a letter on her desk.

It was carefully folded with only her name scrawled on top. The contents inside were similarly written in a rather inelegant, confusing manner, sprouting strange words about unmatched beauty, something about the ocean in her eyes, her breathtaking battle prowess and how the sun, moon and stars were shamed, that was enough to make Byleth's head spin.

It was just as baffling to see there was no name written to identify the writer.

_Oh my_, Sothis's voice was tinged with amusement. _Did you just receive a love letter? Lucky you._

Byleth heard about love letters. In her brief time at the monastery, she had to help deal with a few students receiving them. To her knowledge, Manuela would receive dozens every week from various admirers.

Though the emotions when receiving a love letter were all quite perplexing to Byleth.

Some students were delighted, their cheeks turning red, their smiles all the more wider. Others were dismayed or unsettled, crumpling the parchments with unnecessary force. Manuela was a strange case, cheerfully celebrating the arrival of one, only to be sobbing in a drunken frustration in her room by nightfall or the next day.

But strange as it was, Byleth did not feel any of those emotions. She wasn't joyous or exasperated. There was no desire to smile or any need to rip the letter to shreds. She certainly did not want to drown herself in alcohol for that matter.

In all honesty, Byleth wasn't sure what to do with it.

_You're hopeless_, Sothis sighed.

~.~.~

“ You asking me what to do about a love letter?” Jeralt had the audacity to grin.

She approached her father, hoping he could shed some light on this puzzle that she had hoped to tackle and defeat and finish by the end of the day. Sadly, those hopes were dashed because Jeralt was firmly staying out of it and offered no real battle plan.

“ Sorry kid, but you are on your own with that. I ain't getting between you and some lovestruck student of yours.”

That had been something Byleth hadn't considered yet. That her secret admirer was one of her own students. Was there not a boundary that she as their teacher should not cross? She thought she might have heard Seteth scolding Manuela about it before.

“ It might not be one of those brats,” Jeralt shrugged when she pointed this out to him. “ Could be some other teacher or one of the guards or priests wandering about.”

That only made things more challenging, not knowing who it was she needed to see. Byleth was not used to encountering something that she couldn't fight head on.

“ I simply wish I knew how to deal with this,” Byleth murmured. “ I have never received a love letter before.”

“ What do you mean?” Jeralt snorted. “ In the past, you've gotten – ”

Only for him to suddenly cough, looking awkward and somewhat guilty, like he had done something behind Byleth's back without her knowing.

“ Don't worry about it,” Jeralt finally said once he recovered, waving aside Byleth's concerned look. “ Anyways, just focus on finding out who your mysterious admirer is and you can go from there. If this person does continue to bother you and you don't like it, just let me know.” Jeralt's eyes took on a softer yet firm gleam. “ I'll take care of them.”

It was oddly comforting to hear her father say that.

(but for some reason, Byleth felt a stab of pity for whoever it was who would have to face Jeralt on her behalf)

~.~.~

“ What would you do if someone gave you a love letter?”

Claude paused over the rim of his teacup. “ Why, Teach, if you were thinking of writing one to me, you only have to confess to me in person,” he drawled.

“ It's not that,” Byleth replied, completely forthright. “ I receive one today but I do not know who it was from. I want to know what you think about it.”

“ And you thought it would be best to ask me my opinion?” Claude leaned forward, interested. “ I'm touched.”

Byleth simply looked at him expectantly.

“ With that kind of expression, you could destroy an army,” he sighed emphatically. “ Let's see ... seeing how your secret admirer didn't have enough confidence to confess to you in person or leave their name, I would say they are of a shy quiet soul. Perhaps they are too uncomfortable and embarrassed by the intensity of their feelings. Or your charming personality makes it too hard for them to speak to you.”

“ If this person found it so difficult to do so, why still write the letter to me?” Byleth asked, still not entirely understanding.

“ Love does that to a person,” Claude shrugged. “ Makes you do things you normally wouldn't.”

Love in of itself was a strange concept, one that Byleth was slowly trying to understand more of. “ Thank you for your insights,” she said instead.

“ Happy to help,” Claude grinned as he helped himself to another dessert. After a moment – “ Hey Teach, how do you know _I _wasn't the one to send it to you?” he teased.

“ Because you would have just confess to me in person,” Byleth serenely said, taking another drink of her tea.

~.~.~

“ A love letter?” Edelgard hardly paused as she fended off Ferndinard's sword from behind and was quick enough to block one of Caspar's strikes just in time.

They were in the training grounds when Byleth had stopped by. She was curious to see if Edelgard had a different perspective on this situation.

“ It is no more than a mere annoyance at best,” Edelgard calmly said. “ Do not concern yourself with this letter, Professor.”

“ Why is that?” Byleth asked, puzzled.

“ It is clear this person thinks too little of you as to not even introduce themselves,” she replied with a scoff. “ I find it disrespectful to you, as the person they claimed to like, for them to leave you too little clues to find them should you choose to. They deny you the chance to accept or reject their confession.”

That was true. Byleth was no closer to discovering who it was. She had tried watching and waiting around her classroom from a hidden distance to see if her admirer would leave another letter but none came.

“ You seem to have plenty of experience regarding this,” Byleth remarked. As another female and one of much higher rank than Byleth, surely Edelgard would have received her fair share of love letters.

“ I have, but I regard them as simple distractions,” Edelgard dismissively said as she brushed her sweat-soaked hair from her eyes. “ I am here to learn what I must here at the Officer's Academy. I have no need or time for such frivolous things.”

Byleth had to admire Edelgard's conviction, who refused to let such things fluster or bewilder her.

Now, if only some students who would remain unnamed had that same dedication.

~.~.~

“ I was wondering when a love letter would show up,” Manuela smiled.

The two of them were in the infirmary, Byleth only there by invitation from Manuela who had somehow caught wind of her troubles with the love letter. Byleth inwardly conceded that it would not hurt for Manuela to know as she had plenty of wisdom regarding love letters.

“ I am no closer to finding out who sent it,” Byleth sighed.

“ I'm sure they will show up eventually,” Manuela beamed. “ Why else would they write a letter proclaiming their undying love for you? Unless by some chance, it was a prank.”

A prank? Now that was an angle Byleth did not consider. Her mind was quick to pinpoint certain pranksters and who would be most inclined to pull a prank on her. Though, why a love letter? Did they believe it would confound her and leave her vulnerable and susceptible to an attack of sorts?

“ Now, now, don't worry yourself.” Manuela promptly read the concentrated expression on Byleth's face. “ I highly doubt it was a prank. You are young, pretty and single, my dear, and any man would be lucky to – ”

She broke off when she spotted Seteth standing by the doorway.

“ My apologies,” he said, not sounding apologetic. “ I was looking for the Professor.”

“ Not a problem at all! We are only discussing matters of love,” Manuela cheerily said, never missing a moment to tease him. At Seteth's questioning look, Byleth wordlessly held up the letter towards him to see.

Seteth's eyes narrowed. “ Professor, might I remind you the rules of teacher-student relationships?” he asked icily.

“ It's not a student as far as we can tell,” Manuela swatted his accusations like one would for a fly.

“ There was no name,” Byleth added.

Regardless, Seteth remained frowning.

“ So long as you conduct yourself in a worthy manner befitting of the monastery, then I have no further concerns,” he shortly said. “ Professor, I have a request for you. You can meet me in the church's sanctuary later,” he added, before turning heel and leaving.

“ Someone needs to introduce that man a good drink,” Manuela muttered under her breath. “ Several, in fact.”

“ He is simply looking out for the welfare of the students,” Byleth pointed out.

“ Hmph.”

~.~.~

“ Professor, is something bothering you?”

She had been sitting on a bench. Her day had been unfruitful and the restlessness and frustration building up in her was beginning to wear her out. So it was a pleasant surprise to see Dimitri standing before her.

“ If there is anything I can help you with, I'll be sure to do it,” Dimitri, ever so earnest, said.

She handed the love letter to him. “ I receive this but I am uncertain what to do with it,” she explained.

Dimitri became silent as he read over the letter. To her amusement, his eyes widened at the excessive floral content of the letter.

“ Ahh.”

It was an accurate summary of what Byleth felt.

“ Some have told me to seek out the one who wrote it. Others said to ignore it.” Her eyes gazed into his. “ What would you make of this?”

Dimitri's mouth was pressed into a frown. Not in confusion or frustration, but in thought.

“ I think it was rather courageous of them,” he quietly said. “ To be able to confess your love to someone you admire and care about, even if you were uncertain about how they felt about you in return. Perhaps they do not feel it was the appropriate time to make their affections known to you. Perhaps in another time, they will try again, but this time in person.”

A sudden flush heated his cheeks. “ I apologize if I was too outspoken,” Dimitri stammered.

“ It is all right.” Byleth nodded. “ I don't mind you speaking your mind like this. Please continue.”

After a moment, Dimitri began again. “ I think it would be best to leave this be for now. You have done all that you could to discover their identity but they currently prefer to stay anonymous. Perhaps with time, things would become more clear and this person will make themselves known. But for now, it would not do your own well-being and peace of mind to keep dwelling on it.”

His logical was sound. This was not a fight to be won with sword and shield but with patience and inaction. What a strange battle strategy that Byleth had yet to come across until now.

“ Thank you, Dimitri. You were a great help,” she smiled at him. How interesting that it was one of her students teaching her for once.

If possible, Dimitri's blush deepened.

“ You have put a lot of thought into this,” Byleth mused. “ Perhaps this has happened to you before?”

Dimitri chuckled. “ Not quite. I might tell you about it another time.”

“ I look forward to it,” she smiled.

~.~.~

In the end, nothing came of it.

Her secret admirer did not send another letter to her. Nor did they come forward to reveal themselves. The days rolled into weeks and the lessons with her students proceeded without trouble.

Claude continued to tease and banter with her. Edelgarde remained steadfast and eager to learn. Dimitri was friendly and sincere as ever.

Jeralt kept an eye out for her. Manuela relished and despaired in her dates. Seteth made sure the monastery ran well with efficiency.

_How boring_, Sothis complained one day. _All that fuss for nothing. _

It was not entirely a waste of time. Byleth was abe to gain a better insight on some of her students and fellow coworkers and her father.

And of course, of herself as well.

Perhaps this was what it meant to be human, to learn and experience and grow with others.

If that was the case, then Byleth looked forward to continuing to do so.


End file.
